The NFL filed a motion in federal court to compel Brian Flores' class-action lawsuit against the league and several teams, in which he and two other coaches accuse the league of racial discrimination.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the contracts of the coaches who are named in it were blacked out. There is a copy of the NFL's constitution in the filing.
In its filing, the league argued that all three coaches agreed in their signed contracts to arbitrate any claims against the teams that employed them.
The Supreme Court precedent requires each man to arbitrate their claims on their own, according to the NFL.
In his lawsuit, Flores claimed that the Miami Dolphins owner offered him $100,000 per loss in order to improve its draft position. In its motion filed Tuesday, the NFL stated that this is not a matter for the federal courts to rule on. In order to support the argument, the NFL cited two previous cases.
In May, Douglas Wigdor, one of Flores' attorneys, argued before a judge that it was not the right way to resolve the case. In a statement issued in April, Flores' attorneys said that if the NFL filed a motion to compel arbitration, it would eliminate transparency in the case.
Attorneys for Flores want the case to remain in the courts for a jury trial, where both sides can see relevant documents.
The Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Houston Texans were teams that he interviewed with for head coaching jobs but were not hired. The Rooney Rule requires minority coaches to be interviewed. The Texans were added to the lawsuit after Flores said he was retaliated against by the team for filing his lawsuit.
The lawsuit was added to by the ArizonaCardinals and TennesseeTitans. He claims he was not given a chance to succeed by the Cards, who fired him after one season. Mike Mularkey was the one who took over for Horton.
Mularkey, who had been the team's interim head coach for the last nine games of the 2015 season, said in a 2020 podcast that the owners told him he was going to get the job before interviewing two minority candidates.
A senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach, Flores is employed by the PittsburghSteelers. He is the defensive pass game coach and secondary coach for the Carolina panthers. Copies of Flores' contract with the New England Pats were attached to the NFL's filing as well as the contract he had with the New England Pats before he was hired by the Dolphins.
Horton is no longer working.
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